Ancestral Supplements INterview
Ancestral Supplements interview with Brian Johnson, owner
Brian, thank you so much for this opportunity to interview you. My readers and clients will appreciate your perspective and knowledge in nutrition.
It’s my pleasure, Jeannette. It’s been so wonderful to get to know you and to learn about your own healing journey as you started including these nose to tail whole food supplements.
1. Brian, what is your story? What made you go into the field of creating ancestral organ based supplements?
Our mission is putting back in, what the modern world has left out (to return people back to strength, health and happiness). Because fortunately, our potential for strength and health remains encoded in our DNA, and under certain conditions, we can genetically express the strongest, healthiest version of ourselves. Those "certain conditions" almost always have to do with nutrition.
Like most of our people, I too started this health journey out of medical necessity. When my boys were tiny (around 2004ish) they didn't thrive... they were allergic to everything. Every doctor we took them to gave us the same prescriptions for allergy medicines, Benadryl and an epi pen. After reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price, we took matters into our hands starting with organic, pasture-raised and wild caught nose-to-tail foods with varied organic, in-season fruits and veggies. This was many moons ago.
My boys haven't been back to a doctor's office since because.... well... they don't need to. My boys never get sick... they don't get the flu... they don't get allergies. Their development is actually amazing... they're in the top > 95th percentile for academics and when they test their mile times for physical fitness, they're in the 99th percentile! What's crazy is that my kids don't do all that insane studying that other kids do today (not even close) and they don't even practice running... they're just mentally and physically fit! We also have two functional doctors on staff here at Ancestral Supplements so if we really needed a doctor, we wouldn't have to look very far.
For those that know me, they'll tell you that I'm full of fire... that I'm full of unbridled passion and energy and willingness and wantingness to do good in this world... to make a difference... to make insane sacrifices because of my drive and dedication to make my greatest contribution... to help people heal and be healthy through ancestral living (lifestyle, diet and behavior). I was born for this job!
I love being part of the wellness journey... I love seeing how people can go from a mere existence and suffering in life, to truly thriving and rediscovering meaning... I get to see people transform... I get to see moms become moms again because they finally have the energy to put their bodies in motion... I get to see people that were quietly suffering, trapped in their own homes, reconnect with the outside world... I get to see really sick kids (sort of like my own boys) have a decent chance in this world because someone cared enough. This is what gets me up in the morning.
Fast forward to 2014, most of our business is exchanged with healthcare practitioner accounts (functional medicine guys and gals, holistic practitioners, acupuncturists, etc.), then the direct-to-consumer market (e.g. Amazon, our own local store on our website, etc.).
2. Your company tests the products for purity. Can you go into more detail about the testing?
Our quality control procedures include pre and post-encapsulation testing with all products. We also retain a bottle of finished product from the beginning, middle and end of every production run for retesting. We blend our products in a pharmaceutical grade V-blender and screen the materials through 12 mesh screens prior to blending. All of the biological assays were (still are) passing and within NSF specifications for all active products.
As it relates to potential microbes and parasites, our products are 100% freeze dried in contrast to the heat processed varieties out there. This process preserves heat sensitive biological activity while removing 98 - 99% of the moisture content. This leaves virtually no moisture; since microbes (viruses, bacteria, parasites etc.) cannot survive without moisture, this allows for an ultra-pure product profile with a very long shelf life — of course, with no need for additives or preservatives.
- 3rd party microbial testing before and after encapsulation
- 3rd party veterinarian health inspection is performed by the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries— for 100% of our animal derived biologics
- We exclusively harvest Brain and Bone Marrow from young calves
- We exclusively harvest Thymus from young lambs
- We exclusively harvest from small family ranchers
- We produce one small batch at a time to ensure freshness, higher quality and attention to detail... (this also means that we sell out from time to time)
There has never been a single case of mad cow disease in New Zealand. BSE; scrapie and other known TSE’s, do not occur in New Zealand. A national surveillance program is in place to provide comprehensive monitoring.
I can assure you that our products are much more rigorously tested than any food that you'll find in any grocery store or restaurant.
I put the care, attention and quality assurance into my products as if I am giving them to my family... because I am! My young boys, my wife and I all take the Beef Liver, Beef Organs and Bone Marrow everyday.
3. What nutritional properties do the supplements have?
We believe in the ways of our early ancestors — this, in part, is how we honor them... our early ancestors never had access to a nutrient assay nor would they had even known to care about the very few known "nutrition facts" that appear on labels today. We believe that the real nourishing magic comes from the glandular-specific proteins, peptides, enzymes and cofactors, etc... all things absent on nutrition panels. As such, we don't regularly perform assays with our organs and glands because they exist in harmony with nature... they exist in harmony with the ways of our ancestors.
Organs and glands are nutrient dense, whole food products. The recommended serving for most of our products (6 capsules) is equivalent to about one ounce of fresh, raw organs / glands that you’d get from your local farmer (or) butcher. Some basic averages can be gleaned from the published literature for individual organs / glands.
GRASSFED BEEF ORGANS
B12 — 6.5 mcg
Folate — 25 mcg (this is real folate versus synthetic folic acid)
Choline — 25 mg
Niacin — 2.4 mg
Potassium — 93 mg
Selenium — 18 mcg
Copper — 1 mg
Iron — 5 mg
Vitamin A — 1100 ius
GRASSFED BEEF LIVER
B12 — 14 mcg
Folate — 81 mcg
Choline — 120 mg
Niacin — 3.7 mg
Potassium — 88 mg
Selenium — 11 mcg
Copper — 2.7 mg
Iron — 2 mg
Vitamin A — 5099 ius
GRASSFED BEEF SPLEEN
B12 — 1.6 mcg
Folate — 1.1 mcg
Choline — 0.0 mg
Niacin — 2.5 mg
Potassium — 122 mg
Selenium — 18 mcg
Copper — 0 mg
Iron — 12.5 mg
Vitamin A — 0.0 ius
GRASSFED BEEF BRAIN
B12 — 8.6 mcg
Folate — 42 mcg
Choline — 60 mg
Niacin — 2.5 mg
Potassium — 81 mg
Selenium — 9.0 mcg
Copper — 1.4 mg
Iron — 1.4 mg
Vitamin A — 2500 ius
Our Beef Brain supplement provides natural desiccated whole brain extract along with brain derived glandulars including the pituitary, hypothalamus and pineal glands to further nourish, balance and support neurological health. Included in whole brain extract is sphingomyelin which plays a central role in the myelin sheath, cell signaling and apoptosis, as well as neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that support the survival of existing neurons and encourages the growth of new neurons. Once again, you won't find the "real" nourishment on any nutrition panel.
GRASSFED BEEF PANCREAS
B12 — 3.9 mcg
Folate — 0.8 mcg
Choline — incomplete value
Niacin — 1.2 mg
Potassium — 77 mg
Selenium — 7 mcg
Copper — 0 mg
Iron — 0.6 mg
Vitamin A — 0.0 ius
Each capsule contains amylase, protease, trypsin, colipase, lipase and other pancreatic peptides in the correct physiological amounts that exist in nature. Our product is not a processed, standardized USP extract... it is a whole food dietary supplement for those seeking targeted support in harmony with nature.
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With that said, while we are not actively performing nutrition assays at the moment, we know others that are and that have... Our Beef Pancreas has a rough approximation of the following enzymes in a 1 capsule serving...
• 125,000 unit’s amylase
• 115,000 unit’s protease
• 20,000 unit’s lipase
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Most customers take our Beef Pancreas supplement for digestive enzyme support (before a meal). However, others may choose to take our product for proteolytic enzyme support (or) systemic support (between meals). In this instance — between meals — the proteolytic enzymes are "saved" for system application since there are no proteins to digest in the gut, they bypass the digestive process, and go into the bloodstream where they can then digest non-native proteins that may be harmful to the immune system and/or causing inflammation. This is especially useful for customers with conditions deemed treatment-resistant and high levels of inflammation.
GRASSFED BEEF KIDNEY
B12 — 7 mcg
Folate — 27 mcg
Niacin — 2.2 mg
Potassium — 73 mg
Selenium — 40 mcg
Copper — 0.1 mg
Iron — 1.3 mg
Vitamin A — 400 ius
GRASSFED BEEF HEART
B12 — 2.4 mcg
Folate — 0.4 mcg
Choline — 0.0 mg
Niacin — 2.1 mg
Potassium — 80 mg
Selenium — 6.1 mcg
Copper — 0.1 mg
Iron — 1.2 mg
Vitamin A — 0.0 ius
Our Grass-fed Bone Marrow is a whole food dietary supplement that comes from the femur bone all the way down to the knuckle's end. This is what we refer to as "whole bone extract" which provides the bone matrix (calcium hydroxyapatite, osteocalcium phosphate, collagen, proteoglycans, matrix proteins, cytokines and growth factors), the bone marrow (fat soluble activators and stem cells), the cartilage and yes, it provides collagen peptides too. All of the building blocks (including trace minerals like boron) are present in our whole bone extract product. These nourishing constituents are in the proper physiological amounts that exist in harmony with nature.
We are in the process of developing assays for some of our products. For the time being, I hope that you will find some value in knowing that these health promoting nutrients are offered to us in the same balance that is found in nature... the same balance that our early ancestors would have consumed... the same balance that gave traditional people strong, flexible joints and bones, (including teeth) throughout long and productive lives.
4. What product has surprised you the most with the health benefits your clients/customers have obtained?
It has been truly amazing to witness the benefits of each and every product… Every customer that I’ve been blessed to interact with has a unique health concern and when I get to read their stories about how taking Liver, Bone Marrow, and Living Collagen has supported their joint health… their joints no longer and they are walking upstairs pain free for the first time in years, I am blown away and filled with gratitude. ...Or stories about couples who have been trying to conceive for years, who then start including nose to tail foods, like Beef Organs, Bone Marrow, Tallow, and Fish Eggs, in their diet, and are now able to start their family, have a healthy pregnancy and a thriving child… or children with learning disorders and mental disabilities who can take products like Liver, Brain and Bone Marrow and get health, brain and body function back. There isn’t a single story that hasn’t completely touched me. In fact, in our morning meetings, we read aloud our Amazon product reviews because we measure our success based on the health and happiness of our customers.
5. What product would you suggest to someone new to your brand?
Beef Liver and Bone Marrow are the most effective foods to support health and wellness. These traditional foods were (and still are) fundamental to our biology. It's incredibly insightful to see how animals in the wild instinctively go for the liver and the bone marrow first — leaving the muscle meats for the birds. Even then, birds will be caught taking marrow bones high into the sky and dropping them onto the rocks in order to gain access to the inside.
That said, if you're only going to pick one product, make it the Liver. If you can pick two, make it the Liver and the Bone Marrow... there's just something special about the combination of these traditional foods. After a month or two of consuming these nourishing foods, email me, and we can reassess to see if adding a third product may be suitable for your needs for targeted support.
FUNDAMENTAL SUPPORT
• Liver
• Bone Marrow
• Following the ancestral living principles that you can find on our About Us page on our website… https://ancestralsupplements.com/about-us.html
TARGETED SUPPORT
• Depends on your health concerns and goals... (to be considered down the road, if the opportunity still exists) some examples are listed in the next question.
6. What nutritional products will you suggest for someone dealing with the following conditions:
I always suggest customers start with fundamental support… that’s Liver and Bone Marrow, or in some cases, our mixed organs blend, Beef Organs and Bone Marrow. For targeted support for the following health concerns, one might consider including some of the following products…
• Diabetes - Beef Pancreas & Ketogenic diet… Pancreas supports pancreatic health and can help to balance blood sugar levels
• Autoimmune conditions - Bovine Trachea Cartilage, Thymus, and Colostrum.
• Anxiety and depression - Beef Brain
• Prostate problems - Beef Prostate
• Hair and skin conditions like eczema. - Include nourishing fats like Bone Marrow and Beef Tallow to support hair and skin health… Then consider our Bovine Trachea Cartilage, Thymus and Colostrum to support skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
Most targeted support conditions can be supported by supporting the corresponding organ… this is known as ”like supports like”…
Traditional peoples, Native Americans and early ancestral healers believed that eating the organs from a healthy animal would strengthen and support the health of the corresponding organ of the individual. For instance, the traditional way of treating a person with a weak heart was to feed the person the heart of a healthy animal. Similarly, eating the kidneys of a healthy animal was believed to support urinary ailments and overall kidney health... Pancreas was fed to people with digestive problems... and spleen was fed to people with immune and blood deficiencies.
Thank you so much for this opportunity to share more information about our Ancestral Supplements with you. If you decide you’d like to try this nose-to-tail nourishment, please don’t hesitate to send me an email! If at any time you feel that you're not getting what you want out of our products, please send me an email... I'd like to try to help. I will always be available for any questions or concerns that you may have.
Brian Johnson, Owner
Ancestral Supplements
https://ancestralsupplements.com/